Mar 5, 2021
On Finishing a Year of Torah
*SPECIAL MOMENT* Today marked the end of an entire Torah cycle of 9am broadcasts on the UJA-Federation of New York Facebook page. There we've gathered with thousands of good, kind souls, every morning since March 18, 2020 to learn Torah, to strengthen each other, to engage in our world, and to build community. Monday morning at 9am, we will celebrate a #siyyum of the entire Torah, beginning again where the strange and winding sacred path launched one year ago. May we be blessed to experience love for each other and our world through Torah morning and night. #MorningTorah #ShabbatShalom
*SPECIAL MOMENT* Today marked the end of an entire Torah cycle of 9am broadcasts on the UJA-Federation of New York Facebook page. There we've gathered with thousands of good, kind souls, every morning since March 18, 2020 to learn Torah, to strengthen each other, to engage in our world, and to build community. Monday morning at 9am, we will celebrate a #siyyum of the entire Torah, beginning again where the strange and winding sacred path launched one year ago. May we be blessed to experience love for each other and our world through Torah morning and night. #MorningTorah #ShabbatShalom
Mar 4, 2021
Mar 3, 2021
Mar 2, 2021
Mar 1, 2021
Black History Month was first proposed by black educators and the Black United Students at Kent State University in February 1969. Clearly the learning isn't a month's task. It's a life task. The commitment to exploring Black History is not limited to a month. it is an always thing. May we be blessed to be deeply and consistently engaged with listening and learning from the wisdom and the experiences of Black voices in America.
Black History Month was first proposed by black educators and the Black United Students at Kent State University in...
Posted by Menachem Creditor on Monday, March 1, 2021
Feb 26, 2021
Feb 25, 2021
Feb 24, 2021
What Is Purim?
Feb 23, 2021
The #SNL thing is exhausting. But it's also symbolic and real
The #SNL thing is exhausting. But it's also symbolic and real. And there's a significant difference between the way it plays out in Israel (the ostensible target of the joke) and the way it plays out in America, where 'Jewish,' the punchline to the #antisemitic 'joke,' is a physically vulnerable minority.
While I don't often quote the Jerusalem Post, their editorial (which called the outcry over Michael Che's joke 'unreasonable') articulated why in an America that still boasts Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and tiki-torch-wielding White Nationalists, a fierce Jewish response is necessary:
"It’s one thing for us to make fun of ourselves to each other here, and quite another for someone else to make fun of us to others over there. That type of joke in Israel will not spur someone with antisemitic tendencies to go dab a swastika on the wall of a synagogue, or worse. In America it may."
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art: "Words in the Wind," Ruben Monzon
Feb 22, 2021
Feb 19, 2021
What is the answer to the question of lighting candles where and when you are as you celebrate Shabbat together through digital communal convenings in different time zones (ie, new York and Jerusalem)?
#Answer: As one might imagine, different rabbis have different answers to this truly modern question. I say this: Lighting at 10am in New York as part of a Jerusalem community is holy but not halachically applicable (meaning that Shabbat does not begin in New York despite being spiritually connected to Jerusalem through a holy beyond-space simultaneous convening).
In the realm of the holy, space and time do not exist. But in the realms of time and space, holiness is like an electric current - we tap in to its theoretically boundless power but are not dissolved into energy ourselves. Shabbat begins at different moments based on location, the boundaries of time and space still apply to our lives, though the spiritual beauty knows no limits.
A Shabbos gift from Neshama and me!
(Mi Anochi cowritten by Ariel Creditor and Rabbi Menachem Creditor)
Feb 18, 2021
Feb 17, 2021
Feb 16, 2021
Two different ways of giving help build this world. Tzedakah is required giving and Terumah is voluntary giving. Tzedakah is the way society's foundations are maintained, and Terumah is the donation one makes with a willing heart. Terumah built the desert sanctuary at the heart of the People, but Tzedakah ensured that there was a People at all. #Terumah #MorningTorah
Feb 15, 2021
Feb 12, 2021
Feb 11, 2021
Feb 10, 2021
Feb 9, 2021
with a snap | a #WandaVision poem.
If only we could control what comes next
bring them back
bring them all back
the snap it would be
no loss, no loss, no loss
but we can't
that's not how it works
it's not a snap
some gems are lost
even precious visions end
and we can't just can't
bring them back
with a snap
but we dare not lose
everything: ourselves, the world
as we grieve what we cannot control
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a #WandaVision poem.
Feb 5, 2021
Feb 4, 2021
Feb 3, 2021
Feb 2, 2021
Feb 1, 2021
The myth that Jews do not abuse their spouses must be shattered!
"The myth that Jews do not abuse their spouses must be shattered! Now for the first time, a direct address to the problem of spouse abuse in the Jewish community! We can no longer permit ourselves to deny the existence of this terrible crime. The time has come to confront the truth and to take definitive steps to end this violation of all that Judaism stands for."
Here are some links for further exploration:
The Shame Borne in Silence: Spouse Abuse in the Jewish -Community - "Throughout the book, the author engages the reader with vignettes, using dialogue to illustrate how the abusive spouse establishes control and power while the victim doubts herself and accepts blame for her behavior. This stylistic technique allows readers to recognize the control tactics and to feel the hurt, bewilderment and resignation of the victim." - https://www.amazon.com/Shame-Borne-Silence.../dp/0964850818
Trager Lemp Center: Treating Trauma & Promoting Resilience - part of Westchester Jewish Community Services - "The Trager Lemp Center’s comprehensive outpatient programs are geared towards helping survivors of trauma and abuse and their families. The center provides targeted services for adult and child survivors of incest and child sex abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence. We also provide comprehensive treatment for families of children with problematic sexual behavior." - http://www.wjcs.com/trauma/
New York Legal Assistance Group - NYLAG - Founded in 1990, NYLAG is a leading civil legal services organization combatting economic, racial, and social justice by advocating for people experiencing poverty or in crisis. "The effects of intimate partner violence are long-lasting, affecting many aspects of a survivor’s life. This includes their physical safety, economic stability, housing, and health. Intimate partner violence can also have profound effects on children, who have often witnessed the violence. Access to trauma-informed, client-centered representation is crucial for our clients’ paths towards self-determination, safety, and security." - https://www.nylag.org/intimate-partner-violence/
Jan 29, 2021
Jan 28, 2021
Jan 27, 2021
Upcoming Events!
Upcoming Events!
Today is #InternationalHolocaustRemembranceDay, the day in 1945 the Allies liberated Auschwitz/Bikenau. And friends, to truly #Remember & #NeverForget, we must face the trauma of our past and identify the violent echoes of the Nazis wherever and whenever it rises again. May the memory of the 6 million be for a fierce blessing for the world through our actions.
Jan 26, 2021
Jan 25, 2021
“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” - George Orwell
We are not ignorant enough to believe that Amalek has ceased to exist. But it is our deepest prayer that as long as we remember, as long as we continue to call out the events of this dark day for what they are, then the bigotry of Amalek will return to the sewers of society, where it belongs. #RememberAndDoNotForget
Jan 24, 2021
Jan 22, 2021
Jan 21, 2021
Jan 20, 2021
Upon the Inauguration of President Joseph Biden
We Americans must decide today that ‘the political divide’ is simply a catchphrase and a distraction. The real issue is seeing people with whom we disagree as people. We must acknowledge where we all, as a shared society, are broken, if we are to truly engage in the work of healing. And we are deeply, deeply broken. All Americans, Jews included, are responsible for the reestablishment of truth and trust in our communities. As the ancient sage Rabbi Joshua ben Perachiah once said, “find for yourself a teacher, make a friend, and give all people the benefit of the doubt.” Jewish tradition would have us remember that ideas like unity and faith are shallow promises unless our communal decisions reflect the very real belief in a common good and the commitment to actions that affirm universal human dignity. The sorrow that unites us in the face of 400,000 American lives lost to COVID must translate into a culture of healing and of kindness, grace, and respect. There will be no real peace if there is not enacted justice. As Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel taught, “on three things does the world depend: on justice, on truth, and on peace.” Let there be hope. Let the great work begin today. Let it begin with me. May God bless the United States of America.
Jan 19, 2021
Jan 18, 2021
#RecitingTheLetterFromBirmingham
#RecitingTheLetterFromBirmingham
I just recited the letter and am in tears from the profundity of Dr. King's prophetic expression, the depths to which humanity was and remains willing to fall, and the sense that God's Hopes are alive in this text. I'm so overwhelmed. And so grateful. And I feel even more ready than I was before to pursue justice with everything I've got.
Jan 16, 2021
A comment on language,
I ask us consider using other words, like "attack" or "assault." Storming the Bastille was an act of liberation and led to a holiday. Storming the beaches of Normandy helped turn the tide in WWII for the allies. The assault on Washington, DC on January 6, 2021 was not noble. It was sedition. It was terrorism. It was hate incarnate.
Jan 15, 2021
You must hear this. It's horrifying. We must hear it. “The other option was to try to appeal to their humanity . I remember yelling out that I have kids...” -DC officer nearly killed at Capitol
Take the time and listen to this. Now. https://t.co/tBOaqZ2snr
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) January 15, 2021
Jan 14, 2021
Jan 13, 2021
Israeli Singer Ninet Tayeb performs "I have no other country", by Ehud Manor, at Rabin Square, Tel Aviv.
Remember and Do Not Forget: Rabbinic Testimonies of January 6, 2021: A Horrific Day in American History
I wish there had been no need for this rapid-response book, testimony from 46 American Rabbis from diverse movements, locations, and political opinions, about the horrors of January 6, 2021. The voices are powerful, the messages they send their communities were honest and searing, comforting and strong. I'm especially grateful to my friend and colleague, Rabbi Jesse Olitzky, who shared in the editing of this project, and to my mentor, Ruth Messinger, for offering a prophetic foreword to the book.To the contributors, may your words reach every corner of Heaven and Earth. May our fragile nation do better.
May God bless the United States with justice, and with peace.
Book link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08STPFM83
Table of Contents: https://tinyurl.com/Jan6bookTOC
Contributor bios: https://tinyurl.com/Jan6bookAuthors
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From the introduction:
"We will forever remember the events of January 6, 2021. We also understand that, just like Torah, there is power in collective memory. This is especially true considering that we may remember the events of this day differently, each of us reflecting on it using our own eyes, hearts – and our unique choices of words.
Was the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 a riot? A coup? Insurrection? Domestic terrorism? A protest? Words matter, and how we remember is shaped by the words we use. As the great essayist and thinker George Orwell once observed: “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” We have done our best to collect diverse rabbinic testimonies from an indescribable moment of American history with a commitment to remember and a promise to not forget. We will not be defined by the threats of white supremacists and the acts of domestic terrorists. But they undoubtedly shape us and shape our view of the world.
We are not ignorant enough to think that bigotry did not exist before the Trump era nor would we be so foolish as to suggest that it will cease once that era is over. But we had thought that American society was in collective agreement that bigotry belonged in the sewers and gutters of society. But when the President amplified such bigotry in 240-characters at a time on his Twitter feed for four years straight, and worse yet, successfully used that bigotry to influence his supporters, he gave them permission to proudly and loudly -- and violently -- express such hateful bigotry for the world to see and incite violence. We are not ignorant enough to believe that Amalek has ceased to exist.
But it is our deepest prayer that as long as we remember, as long as we continue to call out the events of this dark day for what they are, then the bigotry of Amalek will return to the sewers of society, where it belongs."
Jan 12, 2021
Jan 11, 2021
Jan 10, 2021
Jan 8, 2021
Jan 7, 2021
Friends, you have it in you to be strong, to love your neighbor as yourself, to demand and bring a better future for the sakes of all our children. Yesterday was horrific. Let's make tomorrow much, much better. And listen to today's Torah learning - and then sing with me. The times they are a changing. They must.
Jan 6, 2021
Jan 5, 2021
Announcing: the second volume of my father's reflections: 'Praying for Our Country!'
***Special Announcement ***
Jan 4, 2021
Jan 1, 2021
On Finishing a Year of Torah
In the midst of these strange times, a growing community of friends have joined together every weekday morning at 9am on the UJA-Federation ...

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Rabbi David Wolpe in WashingtonPost.com: "Divorce is a death" Rabbi David Wolpe http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/...
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A new Bigger on the Inside post: #Hook - "There You Are" "There you are, Peter!" Over time, our eyes can become dim. ...
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I wrote this song for my daughter, born right after 9/11. This world will be built by love: ours and God's. In the best and worst of m...
